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NoneGeorge Washington 72, Illinois St. 64

3 Americans held for years in China have been released, the White House saysGeorge Washington 72, Illinois St. 64

United in struggle

I n the NFL, they talk about the best “clutch teams”, the sides that are able to summon their best performances at crucial moments of a game, particularly in the fourth quarter. There is much to be said for wrapping up a contest in the first half, of course, but producing in the clutch moments undoubtedly contributes to a group’s sense of self-worth, suggesting resilience and a never-say-die attitude that fosters strong bonds between team-mates. England have faltered in the clutch moments this autumn, extending their unfortunate habit of squandering a lead during the final quarter, failing to score a point in the final 20 minutes of four of their five consecutive narrow defeats. “These are painful days,” Steve Borthwick, the head coach, said after the defeat to South Africa last weekend. “We are putting ourselves in positions to win games and we are not converting them.”Stocks closed higher on Wall Street as the market posted its fifth straight gain and the Dow Jones Industrial Average notched another record high. The S&P 500 rose 0.3%. The benchmark index’s 1.7% gain for the week erased most of its loss from last week. The Dow rose 1% as it nudged past its most recent high set last week, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.2%. Markets have been volatile over the last few weeks, losing ground in the runup to elections in November, then surging following Donald Trump's victory, before falling again. The S&P 500 has been steadily rising throughout this week to within close range of its record. It's now within about 0.5% of its all-time high set last week. “Overall, market behavior has normalized following an intense few weeks,” said Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide, in a statement. Several retailers jumped after giving Wall Street encouraging financial updates. Gap soared 12.8% after handily beating analysts' third-quarter earnings and revenue expectations, while raising its own revenue forecast for the year. Discount retailer Ross Stores rose 2.2% after raising its earnings forecast for the year. EchoStar fell 2.8% after DirecTV called off its purchase of that company's Dish Network unit. Smaller company stocks had some of the biggest gains. The Russell 2000 index rose 1.8%. A majority of stocks in the S&P 500 gained ground, but those gains were kept in check by slumps for several big technology companies. Nvidia fell 3.2%. Its pricey valuation makes it among the heaviest influences on whether the broader market gains or loses ground. The company has grown into a nearly $3.6 trillion behemoth because of demand for its chips used in artificial-intelligence technology. Intuit, which makes TurboTax and other accounting software, fell 5.7%. It gave investors a quarterly earnings forecast that fell short of analysts’ expectations. Facebook owner Meta Platforms fell 0.7% following a decision by the Supreme Court to allow a multibillion-dollar class action investors’ lawsuit to proceed against the company. It stems from the privacy scandal involving the Cambridge Analytica political consulting firm. All told, the S&P 500 rose 20.63 points to 5,969.34. The Dow climbed 426.16 points to 44,296.51, and the Nasdaq picked up 42.65 points to close at 2,406.67. European markets closed mostly higher and Asian markets ended mixed. Crude oil prices rose. Treasury yields held relatively steady in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.41% from 4.42% late Thursday. In the crypto market, bitcoin hovered around $99,000, according to CoinDesk. It has more than doubled this year and first surpassed the $99,000 level on Thursday. Retailers remained a big focus for investors this week amid close scrutiny on consumer spending habits headed into the holiday shopping season. Walmart, the nation's largest retailer, reported a quarter of strong sales and gave investors an encouraging financial forecast. Target, though, reported weaker earnings than analysts' expected and its forecast disappointed Wall Street. Consumer spending has fueled economic growth, despite a persistent squeeze from inflation and high borrowing costs. Inflation has been easing and the Federal Reserve has started trimming its benchmark interest rates. That is likely to help relieve pressure on consumers, but any major shift in spending could prompt the Fed to reassess its path ahead on interest rates. Also, any big reversals on the rate of inflation could curtail spending. Consumer sentiment remains strong, according to the University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index. It revised its latest figure for November to 71.8 from an initial reading of 73 earlier this month, though economists expected a slight increase. It's still up from 70.5 in October. The survey also showed that consumers' inflation expectations for the year ahead fell slightly to 2.6%, which is the lowest reading since December of 2020. Wall Street will get another update on how consumers feel when the business group The Conference Board releases its monthly consumer confidence survey on Tuesday. A key inflation update will come on Wednesday when the U.S. releases its October personal consumption expenditures index. The PCE is the Fed's preferred measure of inflation and this will be the last PCE reading prior to the central bank's meeting in December.

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OLEAN, N.Y. (AP) — Chance Moore scored 16 points as Saint Bonaventure defeated Buffalo 65-55 on Saturday night. Moore shot 5 of 11 from the field, including 0 for 3 from 3-point range, and went 6 for 8 from the line for the Bonnies (9-1). Melvin Council Jr. scored 12 points while shooting 5 for 11, including 2 for 5 from beyond the arc and added three steals. Jonah Hinton had 12 points and shot 3 of 5 from the field, including 2 for 3 from 3-point range, and went 4 for 4 from the line. Ryan Sabol led the way for the Bulls (5-5) with 14 points. Buffalo also got 14 points from Bryson Wilson. Brayden Jackson had 11 points. Saint Bonaventure took the lead with 19:26 remaining in the first half and did not give it up. Hinton led their team in scoring with 10 points in the first half to help put them ahead 32-22 at the break. Saint Bonaventure closed out the victory in the final half, while Moore led the way with a team-high 10 second-half points. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .TORONTO (AP) — Canada is already examining possible retaliatory tariffs on certain items from the United States should President-elect Donald Trump follow through on his threat to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian products, a senior official said Wednesday. Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico if the countries don't stop what he called the flow of drugs and migrants across southern and northern borders. He said he would impose a 25% tax on all products entering the U.S. from Canada and Mexico as one of his first executive orders. A Canadian government official said Canada is preparing for every eventuality and has started thinking about what items to target with tariffs in retaliation. The official stressed no decision has been made. The person spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly. When Trump imposed higher tariffs during his first term in office, other countries responded with retaliatory tariffs of their own. Canada, for instance, announced billions of new duties in 2018 against the U.S. in a tit-for-tat response to new taxes on Canadian steel and aluminum. Many of the U.S. products were chosen for their political rather than economic impact. For example, Canada imports $3 million worth of yogurt from the U.S. annually and most comes from one plant in Wisconsin, home state of then-House Speaker Paul Ryan. That product was hit with a 10% duty. Another product on the list was whiskey, which comes from Tennessee and Kentucky, the latter of which is the home state of then-Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell. Trump made the threat Monday while railing against an influx of illegal migrants, even though the numbers at Canadian border pale in comparison to the southern border. The U.S. Border Patrol made 56,530 arrests at the Mexican border in October alone — and 23,721 arrests at the Canadian one between October 2023 and September 2024. Canadian officials say lumping Canada in with Mexico is unfair but say they are happy to work with the Trump administration to lower the numbers from Canada. The Canadians are also worried about a influx north of migrants if Trump follows through with his plan for mass deportations. Trump also railed about fentanyl from Mexico and Canada, even though seizures from the Canadian border pale in comparison to the Mexican border. U.S. customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border last fiscal year, compared with 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border. Canadian officials argue their country is not the problem and that tariffs will have severe implications for both countries. Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian (US$2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day. About 60% of U.S. crude oil imports are from Canada, and 85% of U.S. electricity imports are from Canada. Canada is also the largest foreign supplier of steel, aluminum and uranium to the U.S. and has 34 critical minerals and metals that the Pentagon is eager for and investing in for national security. “Canada is essential to the United States’ domestic energy supply,” Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said. Trump has pledged to cut American energy bills in half within 18 months, something that could be made harder if a 25% premium is added to Canadian oil imports. In 2023, Canadian oil accounted for almost two-thirds of total U.S. oil imports and about one-fifth of the U.S. oil supply. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is holding a emergency virtual meeting on Wednesday with the leaders of Canada's provinces, who want Trudeau to negotiate a bilateral trade deal with the United States that excludes Mexico. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Wednesday that her administration is already working up a list of possible retaliatory tariffs “if the situation comes to that.”

After a hot start to the season, the Golden State Warriors had dreams of competing for a championship in the West. But now, after dropping five straight games, the situation has changed and Draymond Green says the Warriors must adapt. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Thanks for the feedback.Qatar PM sees 'momentum' on Gaza talks after US election

OLEAN, N.Y. (AP) — Chance Moore scored 16 points as Saint Bonaventure defeated Buffalo 65-55 on Saturday night. Moore shot 5 of 11 from the field, including 0 for 3 from 3-point range, and went 6 for 8 from the line for the Bonnies (9-1). Melvin Council Jr. scored 12 points while shooting 5 for 11, including 2 for 5 from beyond the arc and added three steals. Jonah Hinton had 12 points and shot 3 of 5 from the field, including 2 for 3 from 3-point range, and went 4 for 4 from the line. Ryan Sabol led the way for the Bulls (5-5) with 14 points. Buffalo also got 14 points from Bryson Wilson. Brayden Jackson had 11 points. Saint Bonaventure took the lead with 19:26 remaining in the first half and did not give it up. Hinton led their team in scoring with 10 points in the first half to help put them ahead 32-22 at the break. Saint Bonaventure closed out the victory in the final half, while Moore led the way with a team-high 10 second-half points. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .Melvin Odoom breaks I’m A Celebrity rule as he communicates with the outside world

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Qatar's prime minister said on Saturday that momentum had returned to talks aimed at securing a truce and hostage exchange deal in Gaza following Donald Trump's election as US president. The Gulf emirate, along with the United States and Egypt, had been involved in months of unsuccessful negotiations for a Gaza truce and hostage release. But in November, Doha announced it had put its mediation on hold, saying it would resume when Hamas and Israel showed "willingness and seriousness". "We have sensed, after the election, that the momentum is coming back," Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani told the Doha Forum for political dialogue. He spoke as a source close to the Hamas delegation in the talks told AFP that a new round of negotiations will "most likely" begin in the coming week. Sheikh Mohammed said that while there were "some differences" in the approach to an agreement by the outgoing and incoming US administrations, "we didn't see or recognise any disagreement on the goal itself to end the war". He said there had been "a lot of encouragement from the incoming administration in order to achieve a deal, even before the president comes to the office", adding this had affected Qatar's decision to get talks "back on track". "We hope to get things done as soon as possible. We hope that the willingness of the parties to engage in a good faith continues," he said. The source close to the Hamas delegation, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP: "Based on contacts with the mediators, we expect a new round of negotiations to begin in Cairo, most likely this week, to discuss ideas and proposals regarding a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange." The source added that Turkey, as well as Egypt and Qatar, had been "making commendable efforts to stop the war". In a statement later on Saturday, the group said Turkish spy chief Ibrahim Kalin met with a Hamas delegation in Doha to discuss the war in Gaza. The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,208 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. During the attack, militants kidnapped 251 people, 96 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 declared dead by the Israeli military. Israel's retaliatory military campaign in Gaza has killed at least 44,664 people, a majority civilians, according to figures from the territory's Hamas-run health ministry which the UN considers reliable. The US president-elect this week warned on social media of unspecified massive repercussions if the hostages were not released by the time he takes office next month. Trump has vowed staunch support for Israel and to dispense with outgoing President Joe Biden's occasional criticism, but has also spoken of his desire to secure deals on the world stage. On Saturday, Qatar's premier dismissed the prospect of his country facing greater pressure over the status of the Hamas political bureau, which the Gulf state has hosted since 2012 with Washington's blessing. Sheikh Mohammed called the Hamas office a "platform to convene between the different parties". Qatar was not "expected to enforce solutions" on the Palestinian militants, he added. csp/srm/dcp/itThe Federal Trade Commission has opened a broad antitrust investigation into Microsoft , including of its software licensing and cloud computing businesses, a source familiar with the matter said Wednesday. The probe was approved by FTC chair Lina Khan before her likely departure in January, following the presidential election victory of Donald Trump and the expectation he will appoint a fellow Republican with a softer approach towards business. The agency is examining allegations that the software giant is potentially abusing its market power in productivity software by imposing punitive licensing terms to prevent customers from moving their data from its Azure cloud service to other competitive platforms. Microsoft declined to comment. The FTC did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment. FTC antitrust lawyers are set to meet with Microsoft competitors next week to gather more information about the technology company’s business practices, Bloomberg reported earlier on Wednesday. Microsoft shares were down more than 1% in after-hours trading.